Erwin Lowe has been in Jones County, and more specifically, Stone City for 70 years. In that time he has seen many changes in the area, and has become the unofficial keeper of Stone City history.

Erwin’s family moved to the area when he was a teenager, settling between Stone City and Anamosa where the Bowhunter’s club is currently located. At the time his dad purchased 158 acres of land and worked at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, then known as the Anamosa Men’s Reformatory.

Erwin sold some of his father’s land to the Bowhunter’s Club in 1971. The group first had a rental agreement with Erwin, but bought the land on the condition that it be given to a non-profit should the club relocate.

From the very start Lowe loved the Stone City area, and when the school decided to close its doors in the late 1940s, he and his wife Betty had a plan.

“We helped get the Community Center started in Stone City,” Erwin tells me, over morning coffee at Anamosa Family restaurant. “I was chosen to be president and got it cleaned up. We paneled and refurbished the basement.”

Once the work was done, he and Betty began hosting dances at the center. After several years of holding dances every Saturday, the Lowes decided not to continue because of declining attendance and lack of supervision.

In 1972 Anamosa residents decided they wanted to honor native Grant Wood with an art festival in his name. At the time bus tours came to Stone City, but after two years the festival relocated in Stone City.

“A group of people got together and contacted Mr. Nissen about using the stone barn for the festival,” Erwin explains. “We cleaned up the mess in the barn with a tractor and the quarry moved it out. Then the Anamosa Fire Department came out and hosed it down.”

The festival moved to the barn and Sid Blair, then the owner of the Town Crier and Anamosa Journal-Eureka, approached the Anamosa City Council. He asked that the council help support the festival, and was given $200.

The festival increased in size each year, and at its peak had 70-80 artists displaying their wares.

‘As time went on I learned more and more about Stone City. I started doing tours through Jones County Tourism, but I had been giving tours before Jones County tourism started,” he says.

In 1981 Erwin and Betty decided to build a gift shop in Stone City.

“People made all kinds of things and brought them into the shop, at one time we had over 50 people bringing stuff in. So I met a lot of people through that,” he recalls.

There were visitors from all over the world coming to Stone City to see the rolling hills, cornfields and the town that was home to the artist colony.

He and Betty struck up a deal with Monticello artist, Maria White. She would paint the buildings of Stone City on pieces of limestone and they would sell them in their gift shop. Erwin tells me, “Betty kept track and, you know, we had stone plaques in 25 countries.”

The gift shop was open for 12 years, when the couple closed up to retire and travel. Tragically, Betty suffered a stroke and the travels never came to fruit.

In addition to being involved in the Grant Wood Art Festival and Jones County tourism, Erwin is also a charter member of AmVets in Anamosa.

Although Erwin says it’s hard for him to be involved in a lot of the things he used to do because of Betty’s stroke 10 years ago, he is still active in promoting Stone City.

Erwin currently works on the Grant Wood Art Festival Committee, representing Stone City and offering a hand wherever he can.

Senator Tom Hancock sat down last week to discuss the last Iowa Legislative Session. Hancock shared the accomplishments and disappointments of the session.

One of the items at the forefront of the session was the energy bill that was passed. Hancock said the bill would offer incentives for those businesses wanting to convert fuel tanks to pump E85.

The legislation includes taking $3 million from the Iowa Values Fund to update equipment. The Legislature hopes Iowa will use 25% renewable fuels by 2020.

The bill also gives tax incentives to biodiesel and ethanol production plants and additional money to universities for new technology.

“I think our universities are on the verge of developing new technologies, and we need to support that,” he said.

Hancock added that by investing in alternative fuels and technologies, jobs will stay in Iowa.

“I think it will have a good effect in the whole area. It’s a starting point and I think it’s going to get better,” Hancock commented. “Another thing that really plays into this is conservation. We need to conserve the resources we have.”

Hancock said he would like to see more incentives for wind and solar energy in the next session,
Education was another area in which Hancock felt some advances had been made. He voted to increase teacher pay by $1,000/year for the next three years.

“When companies tell you we need to be strong in education, it’s an important message,” he said.

The legislature also voted to give $40 million to regents at universities and $35 million to empowerment boards for early childhood education.

“Statistics and studies show the earlier kids are prepared, the better off they are,” Hancock stated.

Eminent domain is another area in which the legislature felt they made headway, however the bill that would restrict eminent domain was vetoed by Governor Tom Vilsack just last week.

“Larger communities don’t like it because it inhibits their ability to expand,” Hancock said.

The Iowa Legislature also put $18 million toward improving water quality in the state, and Hancock said the waterways are starting to show improvement. The money will be used for the state watershed program.

Hancock said one of the great disappointments of the session was Touchplay. Although he voted to have the machines removed, he feels that the investors were the ones to suffer.

“I think the least we could’ve done was leave them in until they got their investments back,” he explained.

Hancock said the overwhelming response from constituents was to remove the machines. He added that about 70% of the people he heard from wanted the machines removed.

Healthcare pools were also something that Hancock hoped to see pass.

“I campaigned on insurance pools for small business people. Healthcare needs revisited in our state,” he said.

He added that small businesses should have the opportunity to pool together to purchase health plans for employees.

Public safety also took a backseat this session. Hancock said he lobbied for overtime pay for highway patrolmen.

“To me, public safety is a priority. I’ve been told that next year we should be able to do something about it,” he concluded.